Baroness Rosie Boycott opened the conference with a thoughtful keynote address. 

She reflected on themes that would reappear throughout the day, beginning with the contrast between her own childhood memories of time spent in nature and what her grandchildren now experience. Noting how dramatically these everyday landscapes have changed, she highlighted the importance of recognising that people’s sense of “normal” shifts as the environment deteriorates.

Kate Mackintosh, our ED and vice chair of the independent expert panel for the legal definition of ecocide answers the questions:

Why is the environmental cost of war not on the agenda at COP 30 and could an international crime of ecocide change accountability?

People across the Gaza Strip have been returning to towns and cities badly damaged by the war after a fragile ceasefire took effect in October. Eventually, their lives will be restored and their homes will be built back. But the climate consequences of the war will remain for years to come.

The third panel of the day, Human Rights and Environmental Stewardship, chaired by Dr. Farah Faizal, former High Commissioner of the Maldives, examined how efforts to protect nature intersect with human rights, culture, and inequality.

Lovleen Bhullar spoke about India’s polluted rivers, noting that long before environmental law, local communities had their own systems of stewardship and protection. Dr. Matthew Gillett and Darryl Robinson debated the balance between anthropocentric and ecocentric perspectives, while Daniel Adjin Odonkor brought the discussion to life with the example of small-scale gold mining in Ghana.

The second panel, Accountability and Repair: Defining Justice for the Crime of Ecocide, was chaired by Xuchen Zhang, Legal Advisor at UCLA Law's The Promise Institute for Human Rights (Europe).

The discussion explored the legal complexities of ecocide, including how different applications of mens rea could impact specific cases, and how intent and sentencing might be approached in practice.

The international conference has kicked off with a powerful first panel on Corporations and Colonialism, led by Dr Olivia Lwabukuna.

The panelists not only described how ecocide is happening in Myanmar, Mauritius, Jamaica and across Africa, but also highlighted that ecocide is rarely an accident but an ongoing system reflective of colonialism.

Lisa Oldring is a Senior Fellow with UCLA Law’s Promise Institute Europe and a doctoral candidate at the University of Amsterdam Faculty of Law, where her research focuses on the crime of ecocide from a human rights perspective.

Lisa will discuss the article co-authored with Kate Mackintosh, in which they apply the contemporary proposed definition of the international crime of ecocide to the Alberta oil sands operations.

Catherine Savard is a DPhil in Law candidate at the University of Oxford, where her thesis focuses on ecocide in international law. She holds two master’s degrees, respectively from the University of Oxford (MPhil in Law) and from Laval University (LL.M., hons.).

She will speak at the conference this Friday as part of the panel “Accountability and Repair: Defining Justice for the Crime of Ecocide,“ chaired by Xuchen Zhang.

🎡 Join us in London or online!

📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here

😱 The programme is sold out, but you can still join us online!

The paper Exploring Ecocide and Human Rights in Small Island Developing States by Krishnee Adnarain Appadoo and Jeevesh Augnoo examines how ecocide disproportionately affects Small Island Developing States and Latin American countries, highlighting the links between large-scale environmental destruction, human rights violations, and ongoing colonial and corporate practices.

The authors argue that recognising ecocide as an international crime could strengthen protection for vulnerable communities and promote environmental justice globally.

🎡 Join us in London or online!

📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here

😱 The programme is sold out, but you can still join us online!

Our ED Kate Mackintosh had the honor of addressing the Croatian Bar Association (CBA) this week on the topic “Criminalizing the Mass Destruction of Nature: Ecocide in National and International Law.”, along with Climate Leader and Croatian Attorney at Law Marija Pujo Tadić.

The discussion explored the legal implications of large-scale ecosystem destruction, the role of the International Criminal Court in defining ecocide as a crime, and Croatia’s position in the evolving European and global legal framework.

Jojo founded Stop Ecocide International in 2017 together with the late barrister and legal pioneer Polly Higgins, to advance the recognition of ecocide as a crime at the International Criminal Court. Since then, she has overseen the remarkable growth of the movement, bridging legal developments, diplomatic engagement, and public narrative.

Jojo will speak about the current ecocide movement during the evening event at the Conference on Ecocide, Human Rights and Environmental Justice in London.

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📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here

The time when environmental issues were seen as separate from questions of justice or rights has long gone. Today, there is a growing recognition that human well-being and the natural world are inseparably linked. 

Criminalising ecocide is about recognising that when ecosystems collapse so do the conditions for human dignity. And environmental destruction consistently harms the most marginalised first. Seen through a human rights approach it becomes clear: ecocide is not only an environmental imperative, it is a human rights imperative.

Monica Lennon is a Scottish Labour and Co-operative Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Scotland, first elected in 2016.

We invited Monica to speak at the upcoming International Conference on Ecocide, Human Rights and Environmental Justice, for her pioneering work to make ecocide a crime.

Her introduction of the (Scotland) Ecocide (prevention) Bill is a landmark moment in Europe, setting out to make severe environmental harm a criminal offence and positioning Scotland at the forefront of efforts to strengthen environmental accountability.

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📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here

Kaeden Watts is an Indigenous rights advocate and policy expert from Aotearoa New Zealand tribes of Tūhoe, Ngāti Maniapoto, and Ngāti Tūwharetoa.

His areas of focus include integrating Indigenous knowledge into climate change responses, promoting environmental justice, and securing equitable health outcomes for Indigenous communities affected by climate crises.

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📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here

We are honoured to announce that Dr. Farah Faizal, retired ambassador and expert on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), will chair Panel 3: Human Rights and Environmental Stewardship at the upcoming International Conference on Ecocide, Human Rights and Environmental Justice.

Dr. Faizal is the first Maldivian woman to earn a Ph.D. and currently is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London.

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📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here

The article From Environmental War Crimes to Ecocide: Lessons from Colombia’s Transitional Justice by Juliana Galindo and Héctor Herrera examines how Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace addresses environmental war crimes, offering lessons for defining and prosecuting ecocide. It highlights challenges in recognizing nature as a victim, assessing environmental harm, and proving perpetrators’ awareness. The tribunal’s approach signals a shift toward ecocentric justice influenced by Indigenous and Afro-Colombian perspectives.

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On 23 July 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a landmark advisory opinion clarifying what states are legally obliged to do about climate change, and what happens if they don’t. In this lecture and conversation, our ED Kate Mackintosh explains what the ruling says, why it’s historic, and how it can be used, from courtrooms to climate negotiations.

Samia Dumbuya is a climate educator, facilitator, and founder of The People’s Ark, empowering marginalised communities in the UK to become active climate changemakers. For over a decade, they’ve led workshops and programmes that make climate and environmental education accessible, helping young people and local groups understand how the climate crisis impacts their lives and our planet.

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📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here

In his article “Human, all too Human”: The Anthropocentricization of Ecocide, Matthew Gillet warns that defining ecocide around human interests risks undermining the ecocentric rationale for adding this new crime to the Rome Statute, which already contains extensive crimes aimed at protecting humans and their property.

The piece sets out a typology of approaches and evaluates how each could contribute to the anthropocentricisation of ecocide.

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📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here

We are honoured to welcome Her Excellency Macenje Mazoka, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Zambia to the United Kingdom.

With over three decades in broadcasting, governance, and diplomacy, she now focuses on strengthening Zambia–UK relations, advancing economic diplomacy, and promoting investment in Zambia’s sustainable future.

🎡 Join us in London or online!

📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here